hoffmann



(Model.)

A. W. HOFPMANN. CHRISTMAS TREE CANDLE HOLDER.

Patented Apr, 20, 1897.

v E N M U A m; Moms mm: ca. men-mum. ms'umum. 01

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED WV. HOFFMANN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF .TO EMIL R. HOFFMANN, OF SAME PLACE.

CHRISTMAS-TREE CANDLE-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581 ,249, dated April 20, 1897.

Application filed December 22, 1896. Serial No. 616,603. (ModeL) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED W. HOFFMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing inthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Christmas-Tree Candle-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in candle-holders for Christmas trees and other purposes, by which the candleholder can be made of a small number of parts and assembled with great convenience without requiring special twisting operations or connecting devices; and the invention consists of a candle-holder composed of a dripcup provided with a flaring flange having radial recesses, spring-jaws below said drip-cup, the shanks of which are of zigzag form and interlocked, radial arms extending from the shanks, and spring-prongs extending from the arms and interlocking with the recessed flange, said prongs having helical portions which are arranged to overlap, so as to form at a suitable distance above the drip-cup a substantially-closed ring or socket into which the candle is inserted.

The invention consists, further, in providing a candle-holder with prongs having outwardly-extending arms supporting coloredglass balls or other ornaments, all as will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a twig of a Christmas tree, showing two forms of my improved candle holder in position thereon. Figs. 2 and 3 are side elevations of the two different forms of the candle-holder shown in Fig. 1 drawn on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a top View of the form of holder shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 shows the wire blank from which the one pair of spring-prongs and one springjaw are formed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the drip-cup of my improved candle-holder for Christmas trees,which is made of sheet metal or other suitable material and which is provided with a flaring circumferential flange a, having four radial recesses a. Below the drip cup A are arranged two corrugated spring-jaws B B, which are made of wire of suitable thickness in the form of loops. The spring-jaws B are spread apart at their lower ends and formed with zigzag shanks C above the loop-shaped ends, by which shanks the ready interlocking of the shanks of the springjaws is obtained without requiring the twisting together of the same. Below the dripcup A each wire of the spring-jaws B is bent outwardly in radial direction to form an arm C, then passed through the recesses a of the flange a and bent slightly inwardly above the saine,and then extended in upwardly-inclined direction to form prongs D, which are in turn formed with a radially or helically bent middle portion d. The radial or helical portion of each spring-prong D overlaps the correspondingly-bent middle portion of the adjacent spring-prong, as shown clearly in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The upper ends of the springprongs D are bent in upward and inward directions at d up to a certain distance above the radially or helically bent middle portion and then in outward direction, so as to permit the easy introduction of the candle between the spring-prongs D. The jaws with their zigzag shanks C, the outwardly-bent arms C, and the helically-bent spring-pron gs D are formed of two integral U -shaped wires of suitable length, to which the proper shape is imparted by means of a suitable bending device, so that they can be readily applied to the drip-cup A, interlocked at their zigzag shanks, and sprung into the recesses of the flange of the drip-cup, whereby the parts of the holder can be readily assembled without requiring any further mechanical manipulation of the same, such as twisting, &c.

The upper ends of the spring-prongs D may be provided with ontwardlyflaring extensions D, which have hook-shaped extremities 61 as shown clearly in Fig. 3. These hookshaped ends serve to support the coloredglass balls e, which are used for the ornamentation of Christmas trees, and form thereby a simple and convenient means for improving the appearance of the candle-holder and ornamenting the Christmas tree, as shown in Fig. 1.

The helically-bent middle portions of the springprongs dispense with any separate guard-rin g or retaining device for the springprongs, as they form a ringpr socket themselves and bind firmly on the candle when the same is forced between the spring-prongs, so that the candle is retained by each springprong at two points, forming eight points all together,which are located equidistantly from each other, the upper points of contact being intermediate the lower points of contact, as shown in Fig. 4. The helically-bent overlapping portions (Z of the spring-prongs form a guard device after the candle is burned down to a pointnear the drip-cup, so that the wick end cannot drop from the drip-cup, but is lightly retained in position so that every portion of the liquid wax collected on the dripcup is consumed before the flame is extinguished. As neither the end of the wick nor any wax can drop from the drip-cup there is no danger of .fire to the adjacent parts of the limbs of the tree.

My improved candle-h older has the advantage that the parts can be readily assembled by hand without requiring, after the spring jaw, with its corresponding spring-prongs, is bent into the required shape by the bendingdies, any further twisting of the shank below the drip-cup or any special-connection ot the spring-prongs. The radially or helically bent middle portion of the spring-prongs takes the place of the guard-ring or other separate device for binding them together. When the candle-holder is provided with outward extensions of the spring-prongs for the ornaments, it forms also an attractive ornament for the Christmas tree without increasing to any great extent the cost of the candle-holder. By the corrugated spring-jaws the candleholder can he set into vertical position on the limb of the tree, whatever be the inclination of the same, so that the candle is always held in vertical position and the counterbalancingweights, as well as the dripping of the candle, dispensed with.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A Christmas-tree candle-holder, com posed of a dr-ip-cup, spring-jaws below said drip-cup provided with zigzag interlocking shanks, radial arms extending from said interlocking shanks below the drip-cup, and

spring-prongs extending from said radial.

arms above the drip-cup, substantially as set forth.

' 2. A Christmas-tree candle-holder, composed of a drip-cup, spring-prongs above the drip-cup said spring-prongs being provided with helically-bent middle portions and outwardly-bent upper portions, spring-jaws below the dripcup, and radial arms below the drip-cup connecting said shanks of the spring-jaws with the spring-prongs, substantially as set forth.

3. A Christmas-tree candle-holder, composed of a recessed drip cup, corrugated spring-jaws below the drip-cup, said jaws bcing united by interlocking zigzag shanks below the drip-cup, radial arms extending from the interlocking shanks through the recesses of the drip-cup, and spring-prongs forming a socket above said drip -cup and connected with said radial arms, substantially as set forth.

4. A Christmastree candle-holder, composed of a drip-cup, jaws arranged below the drip-cup, spring-prongs above the drip-cup, and 'adial arms connecting the shanks of the jaws with the lower ends of the spring-pron gs, said spring-prongs being provided at their upper ends with outwardly-bent extensions for supporting ornaments, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED \V. HOFFMANN.

\Vitnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, Geo. W. JAEKEL. 

